Spectacular World

A Day In Nightshade

It was good to be back. That was Alice's first thought as she took a seat at her desk. She was back in Oleander, in her personal home office. June wasn't here, but she did have the camera set up and pointed at her. It was late at night, so she was in PJ's, but that didn't matter. She had a special interview today.

"Okay, we're going. You can say something now." Alice stated. Her phone was on her desk and on speakerphone.

"Greetings." A mechanical voice came out of it. "I am the hero known as Beta, and I was invited to discuss the city known as Nightshade."

"That's right." Alice nodded and grinned. This was such a good scoop. "Nightshade is the biggest prison in the world, and you're one of the people who helped create it. I'm sure all my fans would love to learn as much about it as you're allowed to tell us."

Beta hummed softly. "Of course. Some stuff if classified, but I can tell you a bit. Nightshade is not a traditional city. It is a prison, one created by Boy Genius, that is meant to hold the captured villains."

Alice nodded her head. "I hear that once you're in Nightshade, you're there forever."

"This is correct." Beta agreed. "The prison itself is made in a way where only extremely powerful Supers have a chance of escape. Even then, they'd have to get through either me, Boy Genius, or the Victorian, who we can call at any time. Basically, it is impossible. On top of that, we are legally allowed to keep them there forever. Laws dictate that a human prisoner must be put on trial and be judged. However, Supers are no longer considered humans and do not have the same human rights when they commit a crime. The same naturally goes for monsters. Once captured, should the crimes be deemed bad enough, they will be sent straight to Nightshade without a trial. Once in Nightshade, they have no way of escape, and so they will be there until they die."

"Isn't it a bit cruel, though?" Alice questioned. "I mean, if they're going to be locked up anyways for the rest of their life with no way of escape, why not just kill them? Human prisoners are sometimes given life as well, but many will also be put on death row."

"Who would do the killing?" Beta asked. "Certainly not a human. Most powerful Supers simply can not be harmed by human weapons, no matter how advanced. Even a nuke would do very little to some. That means only another Super could be the executioner. Such a system could be set up in place, but is there a need to kill the villains once they are thrown into Nightshade? Once in, they won't be getting out and will die in due time. Besides, many Supers can be tricky to kill. Why, take the members of the Immortals for example. Currently, one is held in Nightshade. He has been unable to be killed. We've beheaded, set him on fire, tore his atoms apart, given him every cancer known to man, teleported him to the sun, froze him, chucked him into a black hole, vaporized him, and yet still, he always somehow comes back. Of course, not every Super has the same level of regeneration as a member of team Immortals. It's also true many are still hard to kill. Fairy Queen is another example. Even after ninety percent of her body was reduced to mush, and her head was torn off, she still clung to life and healed. That is also why Nightshade exists. Some Supers simply won't die no matter how much you kill them."

"So Nightshade exists as a place to hold the unkillable, I get that, but you do throw other Supers in there that very much can be killed."

"Yes, because not every hero has the desire to kill. Most do; in fact, I think they should. However, some heroes wish to take out the villains without killing them. Nightshade takes those villains in as well. If those heroes were so against killing, do you think they'd stand for us executing all the villains we promised to put in prison? Some might, but what if some don't and they revolt? It would just be needless violence for no reason."

Alice nodded slightly. "Does Nightshade serve other purposes?"

"Of course. Though I can't say."

"Classified, huh." Alice leaned forward and looked down at her phone. "And you're truly confident no one can escape it?"